Pressure was mounting on the killer of Liverpool Rhys Jones to turn himself in after a direct appeal was made for him to come forward to police.

PC Robbie Pritchard, who works in the Croxteth area, said: “I ask you, the person who fired the gun, and you, the people who know what happened that night, how can you look at yourself in the mirror for the rest of your life knowing what you have done?

“I would ask you to face the truth and hand yourself in to police.

“I urge you please for the sake of Rhys and his family to come and tell us what happened.

“Doing nothing is not an option.”

Meanwhile, a nine-year-old friend of Rhys Jones spoke movingly of his shock and pain at the death of his friend.

Lewis Ainscough, dressed in his Liverpool football kit, stood on a chair to reach the microphone and offered an emotional tribute to the murdered schoolboy.

The youngster read a heart-rendering prayer to the hundreds of wellwishers who braved heavy rains to attend a memorial service at Liverpool’s Croxteth Hall and Country Park.

Rhys’s parents Melanie, 41, and Stephen, 44, lit a candle at the service in memory of their son. The couple, with Rhys’s brother Owen, 17, sat silently during the 45-minute community vigil.

Lewis’s simple words summed up the feelings of sadness and sympathy expressed by many who attended the event. He said the sudden death had been a great shock and asked God to comfort all who had been upset at Rhys’s death.

The youngster died after suffering a single gunshot wound to the neck as he walked home from football practice on August 22. The gunman, who was seen wearing a hooded top, made his escape shortly after the shooting.